Bear News – September 27, 2021

Denning activity, Lucky and Holly interact, round Tasha.

Bear fact: Did you know a bear’s front paws are flexible enough to grasp fruit or leaves and their claws are non-retractable, used for digging, climbing and ripping open logs to get larvae.

Happy First Anniversary to Ted bear. He has been retired for 1 year. In his first year of retirement Ted still visited with over 25,000 guests. That’s quite an accomplishment for a retired bear. He is so loved by his family and fans; if he could talk, he’d send out his gentle woots to everyone.Lucky had a smell-a-thon when he left the bunker on Saturday. Holly must have been on top of the bunker and smelling the spot where the camera went. Lucky had a thorough investigation of the whole area.

He also tried to visit Holly at her den on Sunday. He approached her with gentle woots and tongue clicking. Her response was not so friendly. She bluff charged him and chased him to a large boulder, she then kept him there. He jumped off the rock and she chased him with unwelcome gargling vocalizations. He retreated to the safety of the bunkers.Holly continues to show up each day for breakfast or dinner. She is in and out of her chosen den. She has been in the den each morning as the interns call to her to have breakfast.

For those of you who said she’d pick den # 1, you may be right. Den #1 is where she denned last year and it looks like she may use it again for 2021 hibernation. Time will tell when she decides to hibernate for the season. The look in her eyes tells me that it should be soon.

On Thursday Lucky was having treats in the viewing area. Holly approached and chased him to the Pat tree. They vocalized briefly then Holly went to the feeder to eat and Lucky walked off but came back to roll on the ground and swim.Sweet Tasha is very round. Her shape reminds me of Honey bear. She lumbers into her pen every morning for breakfast and can’t wait to be released again into the main enclosure. On Friday a check in the area near the bunkers revealed a tree had been moved. Is she looking to hibernate in that small den?Natasha and I cleaned the raspberry brush away from the entrance to the rock den just in case she dens there. As soon as the leaves begin to fall, I will rake and take bags up to put beside each denning area. It will be their choice to pull the leaves into the den. Ted and

Ted

Lucky will get straw when the weather changes. It’s still September. It doesn’t really matter how we attempt to prepare for the denning season, the bears always have their own plan.

It may be getting old hearing how very much we appreciate all the dry fruit and nut donations but I’ll say it again, thank you. We use the nut and fruit mixtures for our pouch treats, spread inside the large enclosure, and in the drop enrichment feeder. A fruit blend is used during the Behind-the-Scenes tour if one of our guests have an airborne peanut allergy. The dried fruits and nuts are a vital part of the bear’s diets. In advance of you sending more, I will thank you.

Thank you for all you do,
Sr. Bear Keeper, Sharon Herrell

2021 List of Updates